Our Story

Harbour Centre

Described by the Vancouver Sun as the “Intellectual Heart of the City,” Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Vancouver campus was the result of a 10-year project the university undertook that changed the landscape of urban education in downtown Vancouver. The university had pioneered continuing education in the city in the early 1980s with the launch of a storefront centre, but the small space was unable to meet the public's demands.

“It was clear there was need for a downtown university centre,” said Dr. Warren Gill, then SFU’s vice-president, university relations and an urban geographer who played a key role along with SFU President Emeritus, Jack Blaney, in the development of SFU’s downtown presence. “Simon Fraser knew it had to establish the facility through private sector support.”

After years of planning, SFU achieved Blaney and Gill’s vision and officially opened a rebuilt and revitalized 1927 Spencer building at 515 West Hastings Street on May 5, 1989, as the official home of SFU’s Vancouver campus in the Harbour Centre complex.

611 Alexander Street

In 1993, SFU’s School for Contemporary Arts began using the 611 Alexander St space as a Visual Art studio and classroom for the undergraduate program and as a teaching and studio space for the MFA program. The large open spaces and extra high ceilings in the 611 Alexander St space are ideally suited to students’ creative projects and assignments.

The 611 Alexander St space plays a crucial role in SCA program delivery and use of the space has intensified since the SCA moved downtown to the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts building at SFU Woodwards.

Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue

In 2001, SFU Vancouver expanded with the addition of the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue. The Centre was created within a heritage bank building at 580 West Hastings Street and is named after a longtime friend of SFU. The building was a gift to the university from Peter Eng, whose company developed the adjacent hotel, residential and retail complex.

Segal Graduate School of Business

In 2002, SFU received an incredibly generous donation from Joseph and Rosalie Segal, the gift of a 1916 heritage building located at the corner of Granville and Pender, in the heart of the city’s financial district. A former Bank of Montreal building, it was renamed the Segal Graduate School of Business and is home for SFU’s Beedie School of Business’ graduate programs.

Goldcorp Centre for the Arts

In September 2010, SFU proudly opened the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts at the historic Woodward’s site at 149 West Hastings Street. With its completion, Simon Fraser committed approximately $150 million to the establishment and improvement of university facilities in downtown Vancouver. This was made possible through the generosity of individuals, organizations, corporations and all levels of government.

Bill Reid Gallery

In September 2011, the Bill Reid Foundation gifted its entire collection of Northwest Coast art, worth more than $10 million and consisting of 158 works (including 112 masterworks by Bill Reid) to Simon Fraser University.

Charles Chang Innovation Centre
& VentureLabs®

In 2016, the footprint of SFU's Vancouver campus expanded significantly, with two new facilities opening. The first was the Charles Chang Innovation Centre, a new graduate residence and innovation facility at 380 West Hastings, and the second was the new SFU VentureLabs space in the tower adjacent to SFU's Vancouver campus Harbour Centre building at 555 West Hastings. Both facilities are important elements in SFU Innovates, the university's strategic plan to support social innovation and entrepreneurship, wherein students, faculty and community partners develop enterprising solutions to social, economic and technological challenges. These two programs further advance SFU's status as the leading engaged university in the dynamic integration of innovative education, cutting edge research and far reaching community engagement.

312 Main Street

Built in 1953, 312 Main was the site of Vancouver’s former police headquarters, at the corner of Main and Cordova in the heart of Vancouver’s inner city. Over the past few years, it has been in the process of being reshaped into an inclusive community hub, co-location space for community organizations focusing on social and environmental justice, and workspace for local changemakers.

SFU's 312 Knowledge Mobilization project will be part of 312 Main's vision to be a Global Center for Social and Economic Innovation. It will be home to a dynamic community of entrepreneurs, artists and organizations committed to economic and social democracy, empowering one another — and the neighbourhood they are part of — to thrive.

In Spring 2019, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement will relocate some of its community-based programming to 312 Main and will help develop a larger presence for SFU in a later phase of the project (Fall 2020). Building on the past seven and a half years of engagement working out of the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts in the Woodward’s complex, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement continues to focus on community partnerships, knowledge mobilization, public programming and community-based research.

Where We Sit Now

From a small storefront space on Howe Street in the early 1980's to a pervasive, ubiquitous presence across the educational precinct downtown, SFU Vancouver's presence in and impact on the city of Vancouver has increased dramatically. SFU's presence downtown has now expanded to nine facilities covering over half a million square feet.

SFU Vancouver serves approximately 10,000 credit and non-credit students and hosts over 11,000 events for staff, faculty, conference clientele and visitors annually. In addition to leading-edge research programs, a wide and varying range of undergraduate courses are offered each semester. Professional graduate degrees are available in business, gerontology, international studies, liberal studies, public policy, publishing and urban studies. A unique program in liberal and business studies offers the opportunity for degree completion for those already in the work force. Thousands of other individuals, groups and companies attend SFU conferences, lectures, performances and exhibitions or are involved in courses, seminars and meetings organized externally, but held at SFU Vancouver.